ARC Review: Good Girls Lie by J.T. Ellison

Trigger warnings: Suicide

Gothic doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface of this book. Let’s call it as it is, a lesbian gothic thriller set to the tone of rich millennial teens are out of their minds. They are ruthless.

Meet Ash, an orphan from Oxford, England recently settled in the dust of America. She comes to Goode Boarding School alone and on edge. This is a good school, a great school, but when you are surrounded by the most elite of elite daughters all around the world, a great school can still be horrible. It’s downright nasty in fact.
This book opens with death and as the story progresses we are introduced to more and more. Everyone around Ash is dying and it’s grown more than a little suspicious.

This is a good book which kept me on the edge the entire time. The writing is beautiful, the characters intense caricatures of wealthy teen girls with money. I was so almost on my way to loving this title but the end is confusing and I still don’t feel as though we get a real sense of closure. The climax while heart stopping is much of the same. It could be the different switches of perspective constantly but it was disappointing. Especially when the beginning was so strong.

Also note: these girls will annoy you and make you roll your eyes. As there are quite of bit of suicides in this novel there definitely needs to be a trigger warning. Be warned, they are very graphic.

Sometimes the characters and plot are beyond unbelievable. Expecting 100s of girls to be cut off from Wifi and separated from their phones??? Lmaooo, not happening.

I loved the world building and some of the characters. I like the queer representation in the book and felt as though it was written well. There are some bumps along the way but it is a really enjoyable fast thriller read. We need more of these solely featuring girls honestly.

Thanks much to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC. All opinions are my own.